For the last three years I’ve been anchored in the South Pacific, writing a book about my voyage. From daunting weather to relationships sweet and sour, wild waves and boat repairs, this very personal memoir shares my many challenges, my search for harmony with nature, and how I come to understand the unity of all things. The team at Patagonia Books, along with illustrator Daniella Manini, bring my story to life with amazing art and four photo galleries! It’s a work of enormous love, with the intention to inspire others to follow their hearts, protect our planet, and live out their dreams. Book is available now in hard copy at most your favorite book stores, as an e-book here or you click on the link to the right to order online with delivery to your address! With love and gratitude, Capt Liz Clark
After 3 years of writing, I’m excited to share the personal STORY of my voyage with the world. Book available now!

and I thought I was Tough…

Maoni, Mami Faatiarua, and the puppy…(the baby goat is beind the coconut tree).

Reunited in the neighboring valley, we brought ashore some fish we’d caught for Mami Faatiarau, Maoni, and Georgina–the woman with whom they were staying. The goat and the puppy had come along too! They’d just returned from a morning of foraging in the mountains with a sac full of mangos, and were pulling a steaming hot pot out of the traditional underground oven, full of a cake called ‘poe mape’, made from grated local chestnuts and coconut milk. I could only imagine what time they woke up; it was only 8:30 in the morning! The other grandmother, Georgina, loved to talk and spoke French, so she cheerfully started in on stories of her and Mami Faatiarau’s courageous escapades over our generous helpings of cake and instant coffee. Both women were separated from their husbands, so they kept each other company from time to time. She recounted one story that I felt obligated to share…

Georgina and Mami Faatiarua before 'breakfast'.

Poe Mape, made from local chestnuts and freshly pressed coconut milk wrapped in banana leaves then baked in an underground oven.

Not long ago, around ten at night, Mami Faatiarau and Georgina were out catching local shrimp in the river in Mami’s valley. They’d already caught a few, when they heard something rustling in the brush behind them. Instantly, Mami’s hunting dogs erupted in wild barking.

Without a good flashlight, Mami Faatiarau couldn’t make out what all the commotion was about. She grabbed her knife and headed for the scene, but it was too dark so she called to Georgina to go and light a palm frond on fire and bring it over so she could see. When Georgina came back with the lit frond, she illuminated an enormous, 600-pound tusked wild boar. Pinned by the well-trained dogs, Mami went straight in and stabbed it in the heart!!

Once it had died, the work was just beginning….

Mami Faatiarau and Georgina cut two long straight branches from a nearby tree and built a sort of ‘sled’ using bark rope and sticks. They somehow managed to slide it under the beast and then Mami hauled it down to the beach, where she lit a fire, cleaned and gutted it, and used the fire to burn the hair off the skin. She then butchered the massive pig into manageable pieces and prepped it for the curing and salting process. Without refrigeration, they use old fashion system of salting meat to preserve it.

She didn’t finish working until 4am!

Take this young Polynesian pig who just finished rolling in the mud…and add two 6" tusks and 575 pounds or so to have an idea of what Mami battled that night!

Mami Faatiarau smirked with gleaming eyes as Georgina recounted the memorable night, nodding ever so often in affirmation. She wasn’t prideful; it seemed to her it was just everyday ‘living’. She rose to take another piece of ‘poe mape’, moving nimbly on bare feet at almost 80 years old, skirt flowing about her legs. Unlike some of the male hunters, she didn’t wear bore’s tusks around her neck. If it wasn’t for Georgina, Mami Faatiarau would never have even told us the story. I wanted to hear more, trying to imagine the realities of her many, toilsome years in the valley. She was a living monument to a dying way of life, her richness of an uncountable sort. It was a gift just to be near her strong, vibrant presence…one I won’t soon forget…

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6 Comments

Jim

April 13, 2012

That is so inspiring . I’ve been lucky enough to encounter similar souls in remote areas of Montana & Alaska . They’re daily lives & ability to be self sustaining would shock most Americans . I myself wintered in wilderness areas with no more then firewood , a rifle , & my wits . One Christmas my sister asked if I had enough money to make it til Spring . She was amazed to find out money was of no use to me as there was no place within a hundred miles to spend it . I never felt deprived & felt my life was full out there .

Darrin Michel

lizzy

April 16, 2012

Hi Darrin, The mape cake might be a bit tough to replicate exactly, as it’s a bit location specific to Polynesia, but I’m sure you could find similar ingredients and try it?! Plus I didn’t actually make it with them, so I can’t perfectly explain the process, but I will tell you what they told me. They collected ‘mape’ or the local version of chestnuts and grated them into a big bowl. Then they grated mature coconut and pressed the milk from it over it until it well covered the grated chestnut. Then they lined their pot in banana leaves, poured in the chestnut and coconut milk combo, then cooked it for a few hours in a traditional underground ‘oven’. But you could probably use a normal oven? Not sure…Let me know how it goes :) Liz

Jerry

April 16, 2012

Hopefully a lot of Liz’s followers also follow other sailing blogs. Matt Rutherford is about to make history of being the first person in the history of mankind to sail solo non-stop around the Americas. It is a feat that compares to Drake, Columbus and Shackleton. Stop by his web site http://www.solotheamericas.org/ to learn more.